Empress
by xQueenxElsax
Summary: Regina and Robin meet on the ancient Rome, but he is married, she has issues of her own. And there is an heir to the throne. Is true love really about timing? Can the love of soulmates thrive above all? Can two souls destined to be together find each other or will fate just keep playing tricks? Is love really the most powerful magic of all? Kind of Gladiator crossover. Happy ending
1. Chapter 1

**Hello to everyone, how´s my kingdom today?**

**I want to try a full story once more, one I hope you will like! This idea wouldn´t leave my head so here I am, writing! This AU seemed terribly interesting to me.**

**This is settled in ancient Rome, and it´s pretty much a cross-over with **_**Gladiator**_**. I loved that movie so much (if you haven´t, watch it. Like right now)! Except Robin is **_**not**_** going to die, and well… you will have to read and find out the rest ;)**

**Please bear with the no-Roman names because I can´t change them!**

**Also, I know a woman couldn´t be an Empress in ancient Rome, BUT I found this idea much more interesting than giving Regina a made up brother. Even though the idea of making Daniel her brother in a Game of thronish way crossed my mind. But… no way :p**

**And at last by not least, I only own this AU.**

**So, here we go…**

***drums roll***

**.-.-.-.-.-.**

**Empress**

**Chapter one**

**It´s not easy being green**

How can something so wrong feel so right? Why was she so weak when it was about him? But he was thrusting faster and she was moaning louder and Robin always made her feel like this. Sated. On the edge. Alive. And like having a life worth living. Because all she had outside this moment, was her son. A son who pretty much drew farther away from her every day. And Regina forced her thoughts back to the man who was so gloriously… fucking her. So she gasped, moaned once more and her body shook vigorously, her every cell and thought engulfed in a powerful orgasm. He groaned too and soon, he was laying next to her again, both panting and silent. Both thinking different thoughts. Until his fingers tangled in her hair, and it was that tiny gesture what always gave her hope they could have something more. Something real. That´s why she always washed her hair with lavender before seeing him, because otherwise it would be… just meaningless sex. At least for him.

Regina knew exactly where her heart was settled. She also knew she had been too late and couldn´t ask for more. Blame her destiny for that.

"What are you thinking?" Robin finally asked, turning her head towards him gently. And she fought her tears. She was tired of feeling weak.

"A lot of things. I don´t even know anymore" she nearly hissed. Her body felt sated and relaxed, but her mind didn´t. And if she had ever know an unsettling sensation, it was that one.

"You don´t know what you are thinking about?" he questioned her, raising an eyebrow. It wasn´t a common occurrence, that. She was a talker.

"Of course I know!" the woman exclaimed, propping herself up on one elbow. But his eyes widened, gleamed, staring at her body, and her voice lost his attention. Regina knew it when she heard the strangled gasp. She covered herself back up with the soft cotton sheets and huffed. She wouldn't have minded laying on hay if it meant being with him. "There is more to me than this, you know…"

"I know" he sighed guiltily. "But this is all can offer you. I am married and you know it. I…"

"You love your wife and you love your son. I understand, but it doesn´t make me feel any better" Regina explained, siting up completely. Because she was the one he could leave behind when he wanted to go home. Because home for him, wasn´t with her. And that hurt more than she ever thought it could.

"I love you" he offered, running his hand through his hair. And the woman only sighed sadly and took his right hand, she knew it to be truth. It was unfair, how destiny played with them. Once, after Daniel died, she was so desperate for a cure to her pain she run to Rumpelstiltskin, the oldest one of the Senators. A man feared for the magic he supposedly possessed. That was a long time ago.

"If you really love me like I love you, then there must be something we can do. I can´t keep doing this. I want more than a few nights of making your bed cozy and warm when you are around. I think I deserve more than that" she complained, and she was already sliding her red tunic back on. They were victorious in battle. There would be a feast that night. And Robin of Locksley, General of the Roman Army, would certainly be the star of it all. He was the leader. He was the hero. He had said it once and again.

_What we do in life echoes in the eternity._

"What do you suggest, Regina?" he asked, and his voice sounded miserable indeed. She wouldn´t tell him how, when, where… which, but he had to make a choice.

"We can run away… no one will ever find us. We will take Henry and…" she explained, taking his hands and looking hopefully and him. Her heart ached. Her soul bled. She wanted a way out. Of everything. Robin raised a hand to stop her.

"Are you listening to your own words? Are you suggesting I abandon my son? I can´t do that. Roland doesn´t deserve that. And neither does Marian" he sighed, he was doing that a lot that night. "Henry will be Emperor someday. We can´t take him away like that either".

His words were like a dagger, she knew her next words would come in a broken voice, because of course he was right and she was being selfish. But what sense made a life where he wasn´t around? She needed to remove the weapon, once her injury was exposed she would start to heal and look for a different fate. Luckily, she wasn´t forced to reply soon, because a voice was hear on the other side of the tent´s entrance.

"General Locksley?" a young man asked and continued when Robin told him too. "The Emperor wishes to see you".

"I´ll be there soon, Bae. Thank you" the General said, and looked at his lover when the boy´s steps faded away.

"I can´t sit down and accept that tomorrow you are going to go back to your wife and who knows when I will see you again" she mumbled and he wrapped her tightly in his arms. And her heart broke a little more because she realized this was _home_ for her. They never stood in the same ground, they never had a chance of making things work after all.

"I can´t let you go" he whispered, pulling her even closer to his body and buried his face in her hair. She whimpered before her next words. He always smelled of… the forest, and she loved that about him. _How can you miss a man that is still wrapped in your arms? We are worlds apart._

"You have to. You can´t hold on to everything" she turned her head to find his lips and kissed him. It was gentle at first, nearly soothing, but it was a good-bye and she wanted to say it in style. So she deepened it, tongues danced together, melted and explored. She moaned one last time and broke apart, gasping for air. His eyes were glassy, and sure thing so were hers. She smiled and stood up. "Good bye, Robin, I really hope you will be happy with your wife. She is a very lucky woman".

"I am the unlucky one" he groaned, frustrated, "forced to choose between the woman I love and my child".

"And that is a fight I can´t win. One that will be even unfair to fight" she acknowledged and turned around, but he grabbed her arm so firmly she turned around. Robin stared into her eyes, pleading silently. She saw desolation and even longing already building in there. But she knew it was the right thing to do, she held no doubt of that despite the growing pain. He had a path of his own and there was a path of hers. "I´m really sorry fate was against us when we met, it has never been the right time for you and me".

"And love is all about timing. Right? I meant it. I love you" he tried once more, tangling his fingers with hers and kissing her hand.

"And I will always love you too. But now, my father awaits" it was almost a whisper, and she quitted the tent after that. But before she left his life forever, she saw a hint of the black ink on his wrist.

And she remembered he didn´t have that tattoo when they met. Maybe, Fate and Destiny were really deities you could defeat. And control. They were, indeed, as whimsical as Jupiter.

Still, the lion tattoo didn't mean a thing anymore, because the man bearing it was now out of her life for good.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Robin walked into the Emperor´s tent with a heavy heart that he knew would follow him for a long time. He had loved Marian once, but now his stunning-in-every-way Regina was all he could think about. They were different, though. Where Marian was a springtime breeze, Regina was the summer thunderstorm that finally made his soul breathe. But she was right, she deserved more, so until he could offer that to her he would agree to her request and stay away. No matter how much hurt it causes him if saves her from hers.

At first, he thought the room was empty, but them a woman purred behind his ear and two hands fell on his shoulders.

"You are tense, Robin. Relax. The battle is over and tonight we are going to celebrate victory. _Your_ victory" the woman whispered, too close from his skin, and massaged his still sore muscles. It would have been enjoyable if it hadn´t been her.

"Where is your father, Zelena?" he asked, frowning, and he saw her smile in the mirror they were facing. Zelena was indeed beautiful too, but her beauty was too daring, too overflowing. Her reddish hair was plush and her green eyes sparkled, but she could never quite captivate him. Because his eyes were for Regina´s raven tresses and her sassy brown eyes. He cringed when the eldest daughter of the Emperor smirked and continued his ministrations.

"Well, he is not here now" Zelena whispered sultry, her tongue darted out of her mouth to lick the skin of his neck. "It´s just us".

And before he could react, she had grabbed his chin and was kissing him hardly. He gasped and then the woman invaded his mouth before he could push her away. She smelled like cinnamon, and since that moment the smell made his stomach churn.

"What are you trying? I am a married man" he spat at her, taking a pair of steps back when he finally disentangled from her grasp. And right then he saw it, something dangerous glistened in her eyes.

"That didn´t stop you with my sister" she purred, and placed a hand on his chest. He froze, and for a second dreaded it was magic. "I want you to make me feel like you did her". Now, his heart was beating quite wildly under Zelena´s hand. "She seems quite taken by your charms".

"Because I love your sister" he began, not voicing his concern about how Zelena knew and not bothering to deny it, "if I just…"

"You are just a coward. Too coward to run with her. Too coward to take me" she cackled and drew closer, now grabbing his black tunic. "Please, she´s not half the woman I am, she can´t give you half of what I can give you".

"I don´t have a price" he hissed, willing to pull away, but she was grabbing to tightly to make it an easy task. It was a cold winter, wind gusting in cutting the silence.

"Don´t you? Are you sure of that?" Zelena asked and, pulling at his clothes, kissed him again. This time, he was quicker scrambling away and much less taken aback by her advances.

"Stop this and leave me be. Your father will be here in any minute" Robin hissed and had to fight the urge to push her away literally. She was, after all, a woman and the Emperor´s daughter. But he knew this viper and he was biting his tongue hard.

There was that green glint in her eyes again, and even if he had been to countless battlefields and seen so many men die, even by his hands, he was sure he had never seen something that looked so much like death and hell together before.

"Remember I know who you are, General Robin of Locksley. You will live to regret the day you rejected the affections of the future Empress of Rome, because the price of your choices will be way higher than you thought".

And his body shivered as much as the flap of the tent when she left.

**.-.-.-.-.-.**

**Well, liked it or not, please let me know! Did you understand clearly? What would you like to see?**

**If you want to get a next installment, please take a few seconds to review and I will gladly write. You can also check my collection of one-shots, Candle in the window, whilst you wait ;) I will love your thoughts on those too, and prompts xxx**

**I apologize for any mistakes there might be, I am a Spanish speaker. Feel free to let me know so I can fix.**

**I write this stories to soothe your shipper hearts, reviews are what soothe mine! Please, pretty please?**


	2. Thank you

**Thank you**

Thank you so much for all the support I have received from all of you, thank you from my heart for every review that has made me smile and pushed me forward. I´m sorry I didn't have the time lately to reply, or to post anything new.

But I have been writing, so here I leave you the link to my published novel _Eagles above the wind_, wishing you will thoroughly enjoy it (I cut it in three so it won´t be erased).

www.

amazon.

com/Eagles-above-wind-M-Ballasch-ebook/dp/B01COEXBFK/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

I will be very glad to receive your reviews in Amazon and Goodreads.

If anyone wants the link to the Spanish version, please feel free to contact me.

With all my love,

M.


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